On the Road to Hell
by Cmdr's Monkey
Summary: What had happened to Barbossa's leg? This is my take on what had happened. Update: This had been written a week prior to movie release and is now inaccurate. A revised version coming shortly.


_This had been written a week before the movie came out. I know it is not correct now, but I'm leaving it up anyway. I plan on revising it using the information directly from Barbossa himself. So enjoy this version.  
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**On the Road to Hell**

There had been no warning for those aboard the black galleon. The attack came upon them as silently as a moonless sea night and as quickly as a squall in all her fury. It was the cry of alarm of one of the night watchmen that alerted the rest of the ship of the danger that they faced, before he was silenced by the very thing that had attacked him.

But even with the sound of alarm, those who had risen were not prepared to face the enemy. They were not prepared to face their own ship as she turned against them.

"Secure those tackle lines yeh bleedin' sacks of worthless cods!" Hector Barbossa shouted over the noise of his own crew's panicking shouts as his precious Pearl betrayed him.

"The Pearl's gone mad," cried the stout Pintel as he hacked at a tackle line trying to grab him near the mainmast. "Mad for Jack I's says!"

The Caspian Lord threw a hateful glare at the powder monkey for his declaration as to why the ship was attacking them. "I'll be havin' no such talk from the likes of yeh, Master Pintel!" This not be Sparrow's doin' nor be it in retaliation for what became of him either!"

"Then wot?" the taller nephew of Pintel asked as he managed to slice a tackle line snaking it's way towards his captain's feet. "If not be Sparrow...?"

"I'm a bettin' man that we'll find out soon enough once the Pearl has dealt with enough of us." He only hoped he survived long enough to find out and run his sword through the bewitching bastard for the trouble. The pirates didn't have to wait long to discover who it was that dared curse their ship. Hector only wished it had been anyone else but _him._

As the remaining defenders kept back the deadly coils of the Pearl, another ship approached in the darkness until she could easily be seen in the lantern light of the Pearl. Hector knew that ship, had encountered it once before during his cursed years and even had the gall to take what was rightfully his straight out of the man's hands with no fear of retribution and no regrets.

Of course now he had every reason to fear retribution for his transgressions all those years ago. Now he had reason to regret the way he had handled things then and knew things would not bode well for them all if the attack was any indication thus far.

No one crossed Edward Teach, the notoriously feared Blackbeard, and expected to get away with it for very long.

"Capt'n... is that... is that who I be thinkin' it is?" Pintel stuttered as he too recognized the ship that approached. There was no mistaking her rustic red colored hull as if the very blood of all those souls, pirate and peasantry alike, had been used as finish nor was there no mistaking the skeleton welding a scythe for a figurehead belonging to the ship known to none other as the Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Aye," was all the pirate said in reply, distracted by the grisly sight. A fatal mistake for him and those remaining. The tackle lines of The Black Pearl's rigging snaked around their ankles and deftly swept them off their feet, yanking them high into the air with cries of surprise.

Hector had enough sense to hold on to his blade as his world turned upside down. He tried to hack at the line holding him by the ankle, but to no avail as a second line wrapped around him to secure him further. He growled in frustration and anger as he looked about him for threats to his person. His signature hat had drifted away to settle at the feet of the very man who was responsible for tonight's weirdness.

The pirate cringed as the man carelessly stepped on it in passing, moving closer until he stood underneath the captured Pirate Lord.

"Hector Barbossa," came the dreaded words he had hoped he would never have had the opportunity to hear, "it seems I have the upper hand this time. Would you not agree?"

"Aye," Hector answered with a grimace. "I had hoped that yeh would have understood the... desperate situation I an' me crew had found ourselves in an' let it pass."

"Oh I'm certain I would have, Captain, had you not slighted me in obtaining the coins to end your curse." Blackbeard gestured downward with his broadsword and the lines holding Barbossa lowered the pirate to his eye level. "I could have related to your plight and made a deal with you, but no... You thought you could attack my port town, _my_ ship, and take whatever you wanted."

"An' yeh have me sincerest of apologies for it, Captain," Barbossa said while doing his best not to grimace in pain as the ropes constricted around him like a giant boa constrictor. He dropped his sword as the abrasive hemp squeezed his wrist until he swore he heard something pop inside. Only then did the second rope leave his person.

"But... I think you're not here to avenge an ol' grudge. Last I heard your head be swingin' off the bowsprit of some Navy shi... Ack!" The coil returned and snapped around his windpipe, effectively cutting off not only his words but the every breath he breathed. He apparently had touched a nerve with the rumor and wondered for a brief moment if the dread pirate before him was indeed dead. It would explain his supernatural control over the Pearl.

As he choked, a man who looked like he had the flesh eating disease approached the black garbed pirate and spoke in a low voice so that only Blackbeard and Barbossa could hear. "Da ship be secure, sir, but no sign of da map."

"Map?" Hector choked through as he struggled to breathe. He had a fairly good idea as to which map the grisly looking pirate referred to.

Blackbeard turned his head toward the hanging pirate and smirked wickedly as he allowed the coil to continue to strangle the man for a few moments longer before making it let go finally. "Oh I think you know which one I'm looking for, Captain Barbossa. The map that can lead a man to any of the strange wonders in the world. Sao Feng's puzzle map. Where is it?"

What could the most feared pirate want with the puzzle map? What things did he know were drawn into it that he did not know of? Whatever it was it probably was not something that would be in his best interest in the long run. But for the short run?

He was willing to sell out Jack to save his own life.

"Sao Feng's puzzle map, yeh say?" the Pirate Lord rhetorically asked as he tried to figure out a way to save his own hide and the Pearl. He also needed to know why Blackbeard wanted it too. To better understand his position and if it was worth selling out Sparrow or make a different deal?

"Aye," the dark pirate answered patiently but Hector could hear the irritation underlying his tone.

"What use could yeh possibly have for goin' to World's End an' Davy Jones' Locker?" He knew the map led to other places but he was hoping that Blackbeard did not and would freely reveal that tidbit to him. But apparently Teach was a lot smarter than he appeared.

He reached up with the broadsword he wielded, Hector could sens the magic radiating off of it and figured that was where the man's powers came from, and let the tip graze lightly along the pirate's face. "I am thinking that you are hoping to negotiate. I also think that you are no longer in possession of the map. Am I correct so far, Captain?"

Hector swallowed as he felt the tip dig just enough into his cheek to let him know that Blackbeard was quite willing to deface him if he said anything to the contrary. "Aye."

"And since this ship is known to have another captain, I can safely assume that the map is in said captain's possession. Therefore you have nothing of value to negotiate with and I should simply kill you now and be done with this nasty business. Agreed?" Blackbeard had stepped away to lightly wander on the deck as he spoke and waited for the pirate's answer.

"No." Teach spun around to face the fallen pirate, amused surprise briefly flittered across his face at Barbossa's choice of defiance.

"No?" He stepped back over to Hector and looked him hard in the eye as he spoke. "What could you possibly have that you can negotiate with?"

"I know where Sparrow be headin'," Hector smirked at the scowl he received as he continued. "I also know that yeh won't be able to find him without that knowledge. So I be thinkin' that if you want to catch up to him quickly, that you'll broker a deal with me."

There was silence between them for the longest time as both Blackbeard and Blackheart stared undeterred at each other. It was Teach who broke the silence first with a deep laugh and Hector wasn't sure if he should be concerned, insulted or laugh with him.

"You have balls," Blackbeard finally replied. "I'll give you that, Barbossa. Alright. You want to negotiate, then negotiate."

Hector cleared his throat as he though about what he could ask for in exchange for what he knew. "Well first be the obvious thing. Yeh let go of me an' me crew an' the Pearl." He heard some of his men behind him sigh in relief that he hadn't forgotten them. He did not add them to his requests out of the kindness of his heart. He needed men to sail the ship if he was going to get out of this alive with the Pearl.

"What else?" The way Blackbeard asked the question told Hector the man was not going to agree to his requests. But then again that's why it was called negotiating.

"Yeh tell me why you are so interested in the map."

Again silence fell between them and Hector could see that Teach was feigning consideration over the demands. He had been right when the dread pirate gave him his answers.

"No and no." Blackbeard smiled wickedly at his captive. Hector returned it with a scowl of his own.

"Then yeh don't learn of Sparrow's headin'," Barbossa declared in defiance.

"I can easily find out on my own. After all I have power over the seas. If he sails it, I can find him. It's how I found you after all." The pirate started to walk away and gestured to his own men. The not so well looking pirates approached the hanging crew and started hacking away at the helpless and defenseless men.

Hector blurted out in desperation, "I'll tell yeh where he is. Just spare me own life!" Just before the large pirate swung down his blade to slay him, a simple command from Blackbeard stopped the brute. The cutlass hovered just mere inches from Hector's body as he tried to turn away and not face his own execution. He relaxed when he realized he was still alive.

"That... I can agree to," the pirate said and waited patiently, expectantly.

Barbossa did not leave him waiting for long.

"Sparrow would be headin' north from Tortuga probably in nothin' larger than a dingy. That had been a month ago. If he hasn't acquired anythin' larger by now, he'll haven't gotten non further than say the Great Inagua island." The Caspian Lord grimaced at the sounds of his crew dying all around him while he did nothing more than try and save his own hide. "If he has acquired a bigger ship, he'll be headin' to the Bahamas in search of the Fountain of Youth."

Blackbeard cocked an eyebrow at him and said nothing more than, "Interesting." Hector stared in surprise when the pirate started to return back to his own ship, leaving him hanging and his crew dead all around him. The large brute for a pirate hadn't left him yet and seemed to smile knowingly wicked at him.

"Wait! We had a deal!" He shouted after the dread pirate. Blackbeard stopped at the gangplank and barely glanced over his shoulder at the hanging pirate captain.

"That we did," he said cruelly. "Cut him down."

"No!" The Pirate Lord shouted as he reached out to try and stop the grisly looking pirate from slaying him. The broadsword came down upon him despite his futile efforts. A searing pain burned through his right leg as keen metal met flesh and bone, dulling the pain from the impact against the deck as he fell. His world was an explosion of agony as he reached out for his wounded leg only to discover half of it was missing. A quick glance showed the other half still hanging in a boot by the tackle line that had held him.

"Clean up this mess and add the Pearl to the collection," ordered the most feared pirate in all the Seven Seas. He returned to the Queen Anne's Revenge and paid no heed to his men cleaning up the remains of the Black Pearl's crew. As per their deal, Hector Barbossa was tossed overboard with nothing more than a barrel to cling to and the Caspian Lord once more regretted crossing Edward Teach so long ago.

He clung desperately to the barrel as he watched his ship be taken away, a strange magic working around her, consuming her until she was engulfed in it and then was gone. He could barely see through his own closing darkness as one of the Queen Anne's pirates held up a ship's bottle with a smaller Black Pearl inside. He did not hear the cheer erupt from them for their victory over the Caspian Lord and his lot. His vision was fading fast as the agony of his wound became too much to bare with added addition of it being exposed to the salt water of the sea.

Barbossa clung to the barrel with all his life and his grip remained as he lost consciousness and drifted into the night, lost at sea and very much likely to become shark food before the morn. He just hoped he bled out first before they started nibbling on him.

Had he stayed awake a little longer, he would have known his life would be spared from such a fate. Off in the distance, a ship's lanterns twinkled in the night, heading in the direction the confrontation had occurred. He would not have cared if the ship bore the markings of the King's Navy.

He would not have cared so long as he lived.


End file.
